All posts in the ‘ Haaretz ’ Category

Earlier this month, a search committee proposed that Yeshiva University, the citadel of American Orthodox Judaism, choose as its next president Rabbi Ari Berman. I’ve met Berman only once. I debated him at his former synagogue, The Jewish Center in Manhattan, and although we profoundly disagreed, he couldn’t have been… Read the Rest »

Dear Mr. Greenberg and Mr. Hoenlein, John F. Kennedy liked to quote Dante as saying that “the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in a period of moral crisis maintain their neutrality.” Dante didn’t actually say that. And applying the maxim to a Jewish organization is theologically… Read the Rest »

In recent weeks, Donald Trump has adopted an odd strategy. He’s begun accusing Hillary Clinton of possessing the very deficiencies that he displays himself. So Trump, who proposed banning Muslims from entering the United States, calls Clinton a “bigot.” Trump, who has repeatedly mused about using nuclear weapons, calls Clinton… Read the Rest »

Country A believes that its ally, Country B, is pursuing policies that endanger both nations. Country A repeatedly asks Country B to change course. Country B refuses. Meanwhile, Country B asks Country A to send it a vast supply of weapons. Country A agrees. Then, after the agreement is signed,… Read the Rest »

Last week, the firm GBA Strategies polled Jews in Florida about the presidential race. In a two-way contest between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, Jews favored Clinton by 41 points. That’s not surprising. Jews have voted Democratic in every presidential election for close to a century, usually by large margins.

George Will once wrote that Barry Goldwater actually won the 1964 presidential election. It just “took 16 years” — until the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 — “to count the votes.” It’s time to update that line. Pat Buchanan actually won the Republican nomination in 1996. It just took… Read the Rest »

Last week, the Movement for Black Lives – a coalition of groups inspired by Black Lives Matter – released a 37,000-word platform. In its foreign policy section, the platform calls Israel an apartheid state, endorses the BDS and condemns the “genocide taking place against the Palestinian people.” The American Jewish… Read the Rest »

Corrupt political behavior, George Orwell famously taught, usually begins with corrupt political language. With the Democrats holding their convention this week in Philadelphia, let’s take their platform on Israel as exhibit A.

Jawad Abu Aisha owns a cluttered yard in H2, the sector of Hebron that falls under direct Israeli control. He’d like to turn it into a cinema. Many local Palestinians — lacking recreational opportunities — would like to help him. But Abu Aisha says that Jewish settlers, and the Israeli… Read the Rest »